


Recovery and Reconstruction 8 -- Snow Trip

by Viola_Laterra



Series: Recovery and Reconstruction [8]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Archery, Canon Continuation, Commitment, F/M, Post-Canon, Romantic Archery, Royalty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 21:32:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18352118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viola_Laterra/pseuds/Viola_Laterra
Summary: Zelda and Link start a trip into the Hebra mountains, visiting shrines and encountering Koroks and cold weather. They are followed by some of the dilemmas of the royal court, despite their best efforts to leave that behind -- but they are able to come up with a solution to one of these dilemmas: what should their arrangement be, after Zelda is Queen?





	Recovery and Reconstruction 8 -- Snow Trip

A few days later, Zelda got up very early and soon found herself once again on horseback, riding alongside Link to the Snowfield stable, where they would leave their horses and continue on foot.

It felt good to be away from the castle, away from her responsibilities. She could just enjoy the feeling of the wind in her hair, the sensation of movement as the horses cantered along... the beauty of Hyrule, no longer marred by Ganon's malice, and entering its first spring since the end of the war. Though, of course, there had still been plenty of beauty, even after the disaster a century ago. Flowers had still bloomed -- Link had shown her countless places the Silent Princess had thrived, for example; as well as many more such miracles of life persevering in the face of calamity.

And as they rode, Link continued to tell her stories of the places he'd been, the challenges he'd faced, and the people he'd gotten to know, when he'd been preparing to face Ganon. She knew some of these characters, now, herself, because some of these people had become her advisors and assistants. After the castle and town had been rebuilt, that had been her first order of business. Most of her staff were Hylian, but there were a few from the other races who sought to help. She accepted any help offered, and gladly, because there was so much to do. She told Link about some of the recent developments and improvements around the town since he'd been gone. He sounded happy to hear of it.

In fact, she was quite pleased with the way the castle and the town had come together. But she was still struggling with how to manage Hylian livelihoods from all the different places around the country, where the challenges and opportunities were so different. She managed to mostly push these problems to the back of her mind for the moment, though, because she was trying to give herself space to relax.

After having left their horses at the stable, and stopping to briefly tour the Rin Oyaa shrine nearby, they gathered up their warm clothes and supplies and started up into the Hebra mountains. Zelda was a little out of practice roughing it outside after months of living in the castle. But it came back quickly, especially with Link helping out. She slogged through the snow as it became thicker and thicker as they climbed higher, walking behind him in his tracks. She was grateful for her snow boots, which Link had insisted she have made for the trip.

They made their way to another shrine, Gee Ha'rah. Link described how he'd had to use snowballs from up the slope to break down the doors leading to the shrine, and they spent a little time inside working through the puzzles. It was mid-morning already as they climbed up past Hebra falls, and as they traversed around the headsprings, Link noticed a rock with a strange little orange pinwheel sticking out of it... spinning and making a kind of clicking noise. 

He laughed, and despite her look of confusion, he stepped close to it and pulled out Revali's bow. He must have expected what happened next, because as he neared the pinwheel, a group of strange balloons appeared some distance away, and proceeded to move in bizarre directions away and then toward each other. The balloons each had a bull's eye painted on them, and she watched with admiration as Link tracked their movements and let fly an arrow or two and pierced them. That left a few of the balloons still jerking around, looking almost lopsided as their fellows burst -- part of a dance but missing a partner, she thought.

Link had stopped shooting, though, and motioned her to join him. She stepped up, and he told her to get her own bow out. Surprised, she did so. It had been a while, but he'd shown her some archery techniques in the past, and she'd found she enjoyed the practice. In the past, if she got in any trouble, she'd use a wand of fire, cold, or electricity to defend herself, but bows and arrows were much more commonly available, so she had agreed that it was a good idea for her to have some skills with them.

Link stepped behind her and reminded her how to hold the bow, how to draw the bowstring back so that when she let go, it wouldn't hit her in the face or along the forearm. She tried to ignore the way his breath by her ear was warm and moist, the feeling of him holding her arms, of how he was braced behind her to help her keep her footing while she practiced aiming. She tried to focus on drawing the bowstring back against the tension in the long arc of wood. 

Link seemed satisfied with her technique so far, pulled out an arrow from his quiver and handed it to her. Her hands shook a little, but she successfully nocked the arrow into the string, rotating it correctly so the arrow's fletching wouldn't catch against the bow when she released it, and rested the shaft against the front of the bow above her knuckles. She took a deep breath as she pulled the string back, one finger on the arrow to keep it level against the bow as she did so. Link helped guide her aim as the balloons traced their strange patterns in the air, and tapped her arm when it was time to fire. She let out her breath and let go of the string at the same time, and was gratified to see the balloon burst an instant later.

She looked back at him and found him smiling. He nodded back at the balloons and she set herself again to fire at one of them, taking the arrow he offered her and again getting the feel of how he guided her aim and the timing of when he indicated that she should loose the arrow. Success. And that left one more to go.

Now he stepped back and nodded for her to try without his help. She smiled hesitantly at him; doing it with his help in aiming and timing was one thing, but trying to do that on her own... well, practice is how you learn, she supposed.

It took her another ten arrows, but she eventually got the last balloon. Suddenly out of nowhere, a Korok appeared, floating in the air in front of her, hanging from a twirling leaf. 

"You found me!" it exclaimed. Delighted, she said, "Yes, we did! Why were you hiding?" The child of the forest giggled at her and said, "We stole seeds, and hid them! It's such a good game, we are still playing it! Hestu pretends to be mad, but he's not." 

Zelda laughed. "Well, I am happy to play the game with you," she said. The Korok said, "Okay!" and held out a little seed to her. She put her hands out and it dropped the seed into them; Zelda stuck the seed in a pocket.

And that seemed to be it. The Korok remained there, watching her, as she turned back to Link, who was already gearing back up to continue their hike.

They continued to the west, staying low between Corvash Peak and the South Hebra Summit. They stopped to eat, sitting side by side in the snow. As Zelda chewed on the spicy salted meat, she was grateful for both the food and the warm clothing. She didn't feel the cold at all. She looked over at Link, who was staring off into space, thinking about something. He'd told her that most of his memory had returned, but that there were still gaps. He didn't look sad, she thought, so he probably wasn't thinking about the past. Maybe he was thinking about something more contemporary.

He was a bit of a problem for her, she thought. She loved him so much, wanted him to be always by her side. But she needed him to travel the country, to report back to her... and she also needed to stand on her own as Queen. Or she would, soon, at any rate. 

And... as she thought back in her study of history, she hadn't ever heard of a Queen who had ruled in her own right. Hyrule had largely been ruled by kings, and though there were always princes and princesses, the princesses were only in charge when there was a disaster befalling the kingdom.

But now there was no other person but her who could inherit the throne. So that made her Queen. If -- she hesitated, even to think it to herself -- if she married Link, would that make him King? She found that she didn't like the idea. For starters, it was her birthright, her destiny. And she had to continue to make it up to the people of Hyrule, for having failed them in the past... by guaranteeing them a bright future. That was her burden, not his.

And... he just didn't have the temperament to rule. He still barely spoke to people other than his closest friends. His advice was invaluable; his support and protection gave her the peace of mind to be able to rule. So where did that leave the two of them, once she was Queen? She didn't want to give up their physical or emotional intimacy, nor his advice and support.

She must have begun staring off into space herself, because she started back into the present when Link put a hand on her arm, his eyes filled with worry. She must have let some of her inner conflict show: he asked if she was all right. 

"Oh!" she exclaimed, laughing nervously. "Oh, yes, I'm all right. Still thinking about a... problem I think I may have, when I am crowned." He shook his head at her and said that she was on vacation. 

"I know, I know." Zelda sighed. "But this..." she hesitated, long enough for him to speak up again and offer to help her solve the problem. There he was again, knowing when she needed help and when she needed space. It was awkward, though, to tell him about her own internal debate about him. But maybe it *was* something they could work out, together.

So she moved close to him, and took his mittened hands in her own. "Link... you know how important you are to me." He nodded, very serious. She went on: "And... you know, that if I had my wish, you would be by my side, always." He nodded again, still serious, but he squeezed her hands. His way of saying he felt the same, she knew.

She took a deep breath. "And... I would..." she realized as she was about to speak the words, that this basically constituted a marriage proposal; but who else would she want to marry, if she could? She might as well say it: "I would marry you, if it were possible. But... I don't know if that would make you King."

Link's eyes widened at both of the last statements. He nodded again, slowly. Zelda said, carefully, "I believe I should be the one to rule." This time, without hesitation, he actually spoke aloud, agreeing. He looked relieved, in fact. That didn't surprise her -- she rather thought he didn't want that much responsibility or visibility. She went on: "And I need you to support and protect me, as my Champion." He nodded again, leaned close, wrapping his arms around her. He murmured in her ear that he would serve her in whatever role she required of him, forever. And then, a little more quietly, that she was quite enough to handle even with all of Hyrule only partly watching his every move. 

She giggled a little and kissed him on the cheek. He kissed her ear, nibbling slightly on the edge of it, up to the tip. She shivered and felt a warmth that had nothing to do with spicy food or snow clothes.

Then she felt a wave of frustration. "Oh! I want to make it possible for us to be together, in some official way, so we don't have to hide our feelings." Link laughed, continued kissing her, and said softly that she would be Queen, after all. Couldn't she make her own rules?

Indignant, Zelda said, "Of course not, there are traditions we don't want to lose, and history to respect, and..." she faltered for a moment. She pushed him away for a moment, thinking hard. "And... and none of those traditions have any rules for this situation." He was watching her, smiling. She put her hands on her hips, and said with determination, "I believe you're right, Champion of Hyrule. I ought to be able to make my own rules. And... I believe I should have the right to choose a Consort." And with that, she took him firmly by the arms and said to him, "And I choose you as my Consort." The look in his eyes as he accepted this role was very like when she had declared him her Champion, a hundred years ago. Full of gravity, seriousness. But in addition to that, there was a softness, and a desire, that hadn't been there back then. He said that it would be his honor and pleasure to be her Consort and Champion. She leaned in to kiss him, long, lingering, and full of meaning.

The wind picked up a little, and Link leaned back, let go, and said they'd better get moving before the weather got too bad. She nodded and they got going, hiking around below the South Summit and down towards Lake Kilsie.

**Author's Note:**

> Note: I had a lot of trouble deciding whose POV to use here; I like to switch back and forth between the two of them, so we see what they both think and feel about their relationship and the work they are doing in the world, and not just one's assumptions about the other, even if they're often right because they know each other so well. And originally I had planned for this scene and the following one to be one scene from Zelda's POV, but then it expanded to become three scenes. I wanted to switch back to Link's POV for this one, but I really liked how it worked from Zelda's perspective, so I stuck with that.
> 
> written March 25-April 2 2019


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